Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright: Wear and Tear
by Gear-Richie
Summary: An installment of Phoenix Wright to go between Trials and Tribulations, and Apollo Justice.


Turnabout Caduceus

**Turnabout Caduceus**

_Trial part 1_

The air was thick with tension, as usual, as Phoenix entered the defendant lobby and set his briefcase to the side. His assistant, Maya Fey, followed in behind him, dressed in her usual purple robe she always wore. Phoenix couldn't help but wonder sometimes why the Judge permitted that type of attire in his court room, but then again, he'd seen worse. No sooner had Phoenix had a seat on the bench did the far doors open once again, this time to reveal two armed guards escorting a young man in. He was Rick Drake, a paramedic with the Caduceus Mobile ER Services company, an ambulance service. However, the young defense attorney couldn't help but think his employment with the company would be terminated, regardless of the outcome of this case. It couldn't look good for the company.

But as he was always taught by Maya's late older sister, the famous defense attorney Mia Fey, a lawyer is someone who always wears a smile, especially in the worst of conditions. So he put on his best encouraging smile, a trait he only recently developed, and approached the man to shake his hand. "How are you holding up, Mr. Drake?"

The man was worried, and visibly so. He was only about 26, but his face had been heavily weathered throughout the entire experience, and it was nearly a shock to find that his dark brown hair wasn't already littered with strands of white. "Mr. Wright…are you sure you can get me out of this mess? I swear I didn't kill him! He was like a best friend to me! Why would I…"

Phoenix reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down. I believe you. Don't get too worked up before the trial, you'll only be hurting yourself." He allowed the man a few seconds to calm down before continuing. "You don't have to swear to me that you didn't kill him. And as far as getting you off, I want you to think of it this way; if you didn't kill him, then someone else did, right?"

The man hesitated for a moment, as if wondering if this was some kind of trick question. "Well, yeah, that would be the logical answer," he said.

"Then any witness who goes up there and says that you did it is lying, right?"

He paused again before answering. "I guess so."

"Then that means as long as we find the truth, there's no problem. And the truth will always make itself known. My job is to prove the lies wrong. And as long as you didn't actually do it, then there will always be a way to prove the lies wrong."

The young man took this into consideration, and then nodded. "I understand. Thank you, Mr. Wright. Thank you so much."

Phoenix was about to respond when the bailiff called out. "Court will begin in five minutes. The defendant and the defense team are hereby asked to enter the court room and prepare for the trial."

"It's time, Nick," Maya said, using her own nickname for him. She nodded reassuringly before turning to the defendant. "Don't worry. Nick will get the real criminal pinned. It's just a matter of time." Maya was always better at comforting the clients. Phoenix was always better with the evidence and the prosecutors.

That reminded him. "Who's the prosecutor for this case?" he asked Maya.

"I talked to Mr. Edgeworth last night," she said, "but he said he wasn't the prosecutor for the case." She paused until the defendant had entered the courtroom. "Because it's supposed to be an easy guilty verdict, they gave it to one of their less…skilled prosecutors."

"Payne?" Phoenix asked with a hint of a smile in his face. Maya's nod confirmed it. Winston Payne had been a prosecutor for years, at one point dubbed the 'rookie crusher' for his method of breaking the spirit of rookie defense attorneys with his expertise. But several years prior, Phoenix' mentor, Mia Fey, annihilated him in court, and he lost all his confidence, skill, and a large amount of his hair. Since then, he tends to ramble in court with his high-pitched and shrill voice, and generally can't seem to get his point across.

"Let's go in, Maya," Phoenix said as he gestured for her to go in. Phoenix picked up his briefcase and followed right behind her, trying to suppress the nervousness he always had right before a trial.

From the defense bench, one had to crane their neck far upwards to view the judge on his bench. Across from him was the prosecution bench, where the grey-haired and bespectacled prosecutor, Winston Payne, stood, looking as jumpy and excitable as ever. Maya stood right next to Phoenix, ever the loyal assistant. When the bailiff walked in and stood next to the judge's bench, Phoenix stood slowly and tried to listen extremely carefully to what he was about to say.

"All rise for the Honorable Judge…" The next portion was completely unintelligible, as the man seemed to go into a coughing fit that obscured the judge's name. Yet, for some odd reason, this happened _every time_ the bailiff tried to state the judge's name. Phoenix wondered if, perhaps, the coughing fit was actually part of the man's name.

Once everyone sat down except the prosecution and defense teams, the judge proceeded. "Order! The trial of Lieutenant Rick Drake will now begin."

As was the custom, Payne spoke following that. "The prosecution is ready, your Honor."

In response, Phoenix spoke. "The defense is ready, your Honor."

The judge continued. "Today's trial is a murder case involving a young paramedic with a local ambulance company. Mr. Payne, please go over the facts of the case."

The shrill-voiced prosecutor cleared his throat and pushed his oversized glasses up onto his nose. He was balding on top, but he'd been growing out the rest of his hair, apparently, and now the grey curtain that went around the sides of his head blended with the grey suit he wore. Phoenix thought it looked extremely odd, and that it needed to be cut off, fast.

"Of course, your honor," he started off. "On the fifth of December, a young man, Captain Michael Jacobs of the Caduceus Ambulance Company, was murdered in the driver's seat of the ambulance to which he was assigned. On board with him that day was the defendant, Lieutenant Rick Drake, and another paramedic, Lieutenant Jeri Candor, who had stepped out at the time of the murder."

"Get ready, Nick," Maya whispered. Phoenix nodded, knowing that this part was crucial. If everything the prosecutor said at this point was proven true, then his client would be declared guilty. He already had to start looking for contradictions.

"The cause of death was asphyxiation," Payne continued. "However, the victim was shot in the leg prior to his death. The bullet missed any major arteries, so he wouldn't have died from it, especially considering he was a medical professional himself. The autopsy report is ready, your Honor."

The judge nodded. "The court accepts this into evidence." Phoenix' computer, the screen of which was built into the table he stood at, displayed the autopsy report in the court record, the first in what would soon become a long list of evidence, profiles, and testimony that would inevitably be added before the closing of the trial. He tapped on the touch-screen and opened up the information on the autopsy report. "Touch check for details," it instructed. He touched the check button and the report opened up.

_Time of Death: 0830-0900, December 5_

_Cause of Death: Asphyxiation due to scarf._

_Notes: Victim was shot in the right thigh prior to death. Moderate blood loss, but death occurred before enough blood was lost to cause hypovolemic shock. There are signs of a struggle prior to the shot._

Phoenix closed the window out to the main evidence screen, where it showed eight blocks that would eventually display small pictures of evidence. One had a small icon of a file folder, which represented the autopsy report. He tapped a button that said "profiles" that listed information on Phoenix, Maya, Payne, the Judge, the victim, and the defendant. He tapped on the Judge's picture to open his profile, only to find a graphical glitch over the man's name, all the characters jumbled and unreadable. He closed that out and returned his attention to the proceedings.

Payne continued. "To further explain exactly what occurred, I would like to call the first witness." A scraggly-looking man stood up right on cue and walked in front of the judge's bench to a small podium used as the witness stand. He had a small, ungrowable goatee, a small bandage on the side of his face, and a tattered coat, the musty smell of which could be detected even from the distance that Phoenix stood from the witness stand. He had a very large frame, but his face looked severely depressed. "Witness, state your name and occupation," the small prosecutor ordered.

"Yes sir," the man said, sounding somewhat down-in-the-dumps. "Detective Dick Gumshoe. I'm in charge of the investigation down at the precinct." The "profiles" button flashed on Phoenix's computer, indicating that Gumshoe's information had been input into the system as a witness. Phoenix decided not to look at the profile just yet, but to continue watching the trial.

"Now, Detective. Please describe the events of the day in question, based on the evidence left behind."

The screen on Phoenix's computer changed to a document that would soon begin displaying every word the detective said from this point forward.

"**The scene of the crime tells the story, pal. The victim was shot first, then strangled with the scarf. There was a witness who saw the whole thing, too. He saw the defendant attack the victim from a nearby parking lot."**

The judge nodded his head. "I see. You may begin your cross examination, Mr. Wright."

Phoenix nodded and went over the testimony line-by-line.

"**The scene of the crime tells the story, pal. The victim was shot first, then strangled with the scarf."**

"Is it really that obvious what happened just by the scene?" was Phoenix's first question.

"Look for yourself. This is a photo of the crime scene when we arrived two minutes later." On the screen appeared a grisly photo of the corpse lying against the steering wheel. There was blood all over the floor and a scarf tied around the victim's neck. The computer immediately accepted the photo into evidence.

"Two minutes later…that's pretty fast," Phoenix said, sounding rather impressed.

"There was a radio in the ambulance," Payne clarified, sounding abnormally civil. "City dispatch was contacted that way."

"Anyway, Pal, you can see the handkerchief tied around the victim's neck and the blood from the gunshot wound all over the door and carpet of the ambulance."

Phoenix examined the picture carefully. _That _is_ a pretty messy wound..._ he thought. His next question came immediately to mind. "Why would anyone strangle someone with a scarf if they've already been shot?"

Gumshoe had his answer all planned out, just like Phoenix expected. The detective seemed to beam with pride as he spoke. "The defendant was an expert in medicine, pal. So was the victim. They both knew that the shot missed any major arteries, and that the victim could quickly fix the wound and recover. So the attacker had to finish the job."

"Isn't it strange how knowledge of how to save a life can be used to take one?" Payne commented smugly.

The judge agreed. "It _is_ rather sad how we can't even trust those who are supposed to save our lives."

Phoenix was feeling a bit under the fire and exasperated, and was beginning to sweat some. _Why is everyone assuming he did it?!_ Maya gave him a look that seemed to say, 'Be careful here, Phoenix.'

As the defense attorney looked at the collected evidence, he got curious about something that hadn't been specified. "Hey, Gumshoe?" he asked.

"Yeah, Pal?"

"When you arrived at the scene of the murder...was the defendant splattered with the victim's blood?"

The detective gave it some thought, then responded. "Nah, the defendant's uniform was clean. It was a point-blank shot, so there wasn't any back splatter."

"What are you getting at?" Maya asked curiously.

"Nothing, really. Just a hunch..." Phoenix nodded to Gumshoe and looked back down at the court record, looking at the testimony transcript once more.

"**There was a witness who saw the whole thing, too."**

"Who was this witness you mentioned in your testimony?" he asked.

"You'll find out in good time, Rookie," Payne interjected before Gumshoe could say anything.

"Yes, be patient, Rookie," the judge added.

_What? Why is everyone picking on me? And I've been an attorney for four years!_

"Well, if you won't tell me who he is yet, can you verify it was the victim and the defendant he saw?"

The judge chimed in, his somewhat distractible nature showing through. "Yes! Is the witness sure?"

Payne smiled and fanned his forehead, an odd habit of some sort that Phoenix could never determine the origin of. "Of course, your Honor," he said. "Witness, please step down."

Gumshoe looked even gloomier than when he walked in. "Yes sir," he said, his fifteen minutes of fame now over.

"Your honor," Payne continued. "The prosecution would like to call its next witness, a young, intelligent man who happened to be at the scene when the murder took place."

Phoenix looked at Maya, who only returned the same blank stare. "I guess we're just going to have to fly by the seat of our pants on this one," Maya said.

"How is that any different from before?" Phoenix asked as the next witness approached the stand. He was a young man, probably in his mid twenties, with black hair and a pair of stylish black glasses sitting on his nose. But his eyes…they seemed to be piercing everything in the room as they suspiciously darted to the left and right, like he was expecting to be attacked at any moment. Not fearful, actually…he looked almost like he was…plotting something.

Payne spoke. "Witness, state your name and occupation."

The witness responded with, "Michael Payne, college student. But you already knew that, Grandpa."

The courtroom sat in dead silence for several moments. Even the judge was terrified at the possibility of Payne having passed his genes on to some poor child. Finally, Maya was the first person to whisper something. "This guy is Payne's grandson?"

"Let's just hope his irritating attitude isn't hereditary," Phoenix responded dryly as the courtroom slowly recovered from the shock.

"Yes, yes, I know, Mikey. Now, let's continue with this trial, shall we? You said you were at the scene of the crime when it took place, and saw who the murderer was, right?"

Phoenix's heart sank. _Oh, man. This isn't going to be fun._

"You got that right, grandpa. And I'm going to testify to exactly that…and take you down, Phoenix Wright!"

That last part was a bit of a shock for Phoenix, who only managed to stammer, "W-w-what?!"

"After all you put my grandpa through, it's time you got yours, you defense attorney slime! You _and_ your mentor!"

"Great," Phoenix mumbled. "I guess his personality _is_ hereditary."

Maya let out a small chuckle before the testimony started.

"**I saw the whole thing from the next parking lot. There were two men in the ambulance. I saw the flash of a gunshot, then saw the defendant holding a smoking gun. The man in the driver's seat was shot. There was blood everywhere. Then a woman ran up to the door of the ambulance and started screaming. At the time, I was already calling the police from my cell phone."**

The judge nodded his head. "It must have been a terrifying sight for you, young man."

With a shrug, the witness responded, "Surprisingly, it wasn't as scary as I would have expected something like that to be."

"I guess it's true what they say," the Judge responded. "You never know how you'll react to a situation until you're there. You're a very brave young man."

"Unlike some cowardly defense attorneys I could mention," Prosecutor Payne added with a smug ring to his voice.

_Hey! How did I come under fire here?!_ Phoenix demanded as the cross examination started.

**I saw the whole thing from the next parking lot.**

"About how far away were you?" was Phoenix's first question.

"It couldn't have been more than 100 yards."

"That's an awfully far distance," Phoenix said skeptically. "Wasn't it hard to see?"

"It's not really that far at all. Not for someone with perfect vision like myself."

But it was the morning, right? What about the glare from the sunlight on the windshield?

There wasn't any. The ambulance was in covered parking.

But the glass should still have made it somewhat difficult. You'd probably need some kind of visual aid or something...

Who says I didn't have it?

What?

What if I had...binoculars?

WHAT?! You were spying on the paramedics with binoculars?!

So what if I was?

But...but that's...

Payne: OBJECTION! Your honor, this line of questioning is not pertinent to this case and is wasting this court's time.

Judge: Sustained. Please stick to the topic, Mr. Wright.

Phoenix: (Doesn't anyone else think this is strange at all?)

**There were two men in the ambulance.**

"Who were the two men? Can you describe them?" Phoenix then asked.

"Well, the one in the driver's seat was a dark haired male with glasses," the witness reported.

Phoenix nodded his head. The description matched the victim, unfortunately. No way to trip him up there.

"And the one in the passenger's seat was the defendant, Mr. Drake."

Phoenix began to sweat, even though he knew that was coming.

**I saw the flash of a gunshot, then saw the defendant holding a smoking gun.**

"What happened to the man in the passenger's seat?" Phoenix asked, continuing the cross-examination.

"He was shot. There was blood everywhere, a complete mess."

Phoenix began to think. _There was blood everywhere, huh? _"Your honor, I want the witness to append his testimony!"

"Append it? With what?"

"With the part about the victim getting shot, the blood, everything he just said. I think that's rather important."

"As usual, I have no idea where you're going with this, but very well. Witness, append your testimony."

The witness shrugged. "Alright, if you insist..."

The man cleared his throat as he prepared to make his statement official for the court. "The man in the driver's seat was shot. There was blood everywhere."

"OBJECTION!" The loud scream, finger outstretched, eyes glaring daggers…this was the moment Phoenix had been waiting for the duration of this witness' testimony.

"Was it something I said?" the witness asked innocently.

"I'm sorry, but you've testified is simply impossible. You know, that part about the blood being "everywhere"?

The witness began to stammer, sweating. "Wh-what?"

Phoenix placed his hands on his hips, a grin on his face. "Perhaps you haven't seen this photograph." With a few taps on the screen, the crime scene photo and all its gory glory was displayed on the main projector of the courtroom.

The witness tried to regain some of his composure, thinking perhaps the man was bluffing. "What about it?"

"Do you notice where all the blood is in this picture?" Phoenix asked, waiting for the man's reaction to his own mistake.

Michael Payne squinted, pushing his glasses on his nose as he stared intently at the screen. "It's...oop!" His eyes widened as he stumbled back a few steps.

Phoenix grinned and held out his arm, pointing directly at the witness dramatically. "That's right. IT'S ONLY ON THE FLOOR!"

Michael Payne stumbled backwards more with a yelp. The veteran "rookie crusher" began to stammer as he leaned forward, beads of sweat visible on his forehead. "Y-you can't…"

"I just did, Mr. Payne," Phoenix said triumphantly, ready to deliver the final blow. "The witness obviously didn't see the incident at all!"

The commotion in the courtroom grew to a raging level, from which the judge could only recover through a liberal use of his gavel. "Order! Order! Mr. Payne, what's the meaning of this?!"

"OBJECTION!" the shrill voice screamed out rather late. "H-he just saw a murder! Anyone would be stunned and confused after seeing someone get shot!"

The witness seemed to be grasping for whatever straws he could get his hands on. "That's right! I-I was just...freaked out and thought I saw blood, that's all!" He tugged at his collar with an index finger as his eyes darted around.

The Judge seemed to consider that for a moment. "That's understandable. It's been my experience that during these types of circumstances, the witness can become blinded by shock, and remember things slightly incorrectly. I don't believe this to be grounds for dismissal of the witness' testimony.

Phoenix grit his teeth as the witness and the prosecutor began to relax, having found their loop hole. "Easy, Nick. You've got it started," Maya said, trying to keep him focused on the task at hand. "Just don't lose the momentum!"

Phoenix nodded. Every little inconsistency sows a seed of doubt in the Judge's mind. It was only going to be a matter of time before enough of his lies would break the Judge's trust. "Mr. Payne...uh...the younger...retract and correct your testimony!" Phoenix ordered.

His cage still slightly rattled, he only managed, "O-okay..."

The witness began to testify, but this time, Phoenix decided he'd take him on line by line, to make sure he didn't miss anything.

"**I just got confused. There wasn't actually any blood."**

"_HOLD IT!_ So you didn't see any blood at all?"

The witness, not completely prepared for all this, stammered: "W-well, from that distance..."

Phoenix kept the pressure up. "Didn't you just say you were using binoculars?"

"W-what I meant was..." the witness cleared his throat, and some of his irritating composure returned to him. "From that distance, it's hard to hold the binoculars totally steady, but I suppose now that I think about it, I didn't see any blood after all."

Phoenix nodded, knowing he was going to slip up soon. "Continue," he simply said.

**The victim was sleeping when the defendant pulled the gun.**

"HOLD IT! How long had he been asleep?"

"It had been about thirty minutes," he responded.

_He was watching them that long?!_ Phoenix demanded silently, the look of bewilderment apparent on his face.

"This guy is really creepy, Nick," Maya commented.

Phoenix shrugged as he turned to look at his assistant. "I guess creepiness _is_ hereditary." He turned back to the witness. "Go ahead and continue," he said.

**He fired, and the shot obviously woke up the victim.**

"HOLD IT! Did the victim cry out?"

Michael Payne nodded. "Yeah, I could hear him even from where I was."

"Where was he shot?"

"The shot was aimed low, so it looked like it hit in the leg or the thigh."

Phoenix nodded. There was nothing to be brought up there. That was consistent with the autopsy report.

The judge continued. "So, what happened next?"

**The defendant immediately lunged at him, trying to choke him with his scarf.**

"HOLD IT! What kind of scarf was it?"

The witness cocked an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Really, Mr. Wright," the prosecutor across the room said. "Must you always bore us with your stalling tactics?"

Phoenix tried to sound stern, despite his growing nervousness at the accusation of stalling for time. He didn't need the judge believing that. "Answer the question, witness!"

"It was a blue scarf, I guess...or maybe green. One of the two."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "You're not sure?"

"Well, it matched his jacket...so it was a green scarf. Yeah, that's it."

Phoenix's grin was impossible to hide as he stood, poised for attack. Maya watched him, and a smile came over her face, too. "You got him, don't you?" she asked.

Phoenix nodded. "I got him in two places. Time to slam him with it." His finger outstretched, he screamed at the top of his lungs:

**OBJECTION!**

"Mr. Payne...um...the younger..." He really needed a better way to address the two of them. "I'm afraid your testimony is completely unreliable."

The witness cocked his head to the side. "Really? Do you have evidence to support this?"

_Arrogant little…_ A few taps on the screen later, the gun used in the murder appeared on the screen. "This is the first piece of proof. According to the record, your testimony is exactly as follows: 'He fired, and the shot obviously woke up the victim.'"

"What, are you trying to say he slept through the attack?" the witness cracked.

"Hehehe...rookies," Payne muttered condescendingly.

Phoenix kept smiling. "You might want to stop talking now before you both make complete fools of yourselves."

"What are you babbling about now?" Prosecutor Payne asked.

"I'm not sure if you read this," he said, holding a piece of paper in his hand, a printout of the evidence. "but according to the evidence data on this weapon, a struggle took place prior to the shot being fired."

The witness gulped. Prosecutor Payne began to stumble over his words once again. "Y-you can't mean..."

"Yes, I can. That's strike two against you!"

"Nooooooooo!" the witness screamed. Phoenix could almost swear the man's black hair was starting to go grey.

"Way to go, Nick! You nailed him!" Maya said in congratulations.

Phoenix shook his head. "I'm not done yet. Didn't you say that the victim was wearing a green scarf?"

"Um...uh...yeah?" the victim questioned, no longer sure of himself. "B-but it might have been blue! I don't exactly remember!"

The defense attorney shook his head, tapping on the computer in front of him. "I'm sorry, that's not possible either. Take a look at this scarf. What color is it?"

"I can't tell, it's to blo--eek!" he screeched. His hair seemed to turn a little more grey.

"That's right. How could you have possibly known what color it was..." before continuing, Phoenix slammed both hands on his desk. "…if it was completely bloodsoaked?!"

The witness screamed, and something mystical happened. His hair began to fall out as he screamed until slowly and steadily, he began to turn into a mirror image of Prosecutor Payne, nearly bald head and all.

"M-Michael!" the prosecutor called out.

"Strike three, Witness," Phoenix said.

"And you're out," the Judge added, unable to help but chime in on the baseball reference. "Mr. Payne, I'm sorry, but this witness' testimony is completely unreliable."

"B-but...you're honor...p-please..." the older prosecutor begged.

" I'm sorry, Mr. Payne," he interrupted, "but I can't allow this to go any further. Your witness is dismissed.

"B-but..."

"Unfortunately, I cannot deliver a verdict under these circumstances. Mr. Payne, your witness was not sufficient to prove guilt. And without evidence in either direction, I cannot declare a verdict today. We will recess until tomorrow and reconvene..."

**OBJECTION!**

The shrill voice was unmistakable as the defeated witness skulked his way off the stand. "Your honor, I'm afraid the prosecution is not done."

"What?" Phoenix demanded. What could they possibly want to do now?

"The prosecution would like to call our next witness."

"You have another witness?" the Judge demanded, sounding thoroughly surprised.

"Yes, your honor. The paramedic that was first to arrive on scene after the murder took place."

Phoenix was confused. There was another paramedic on scene?

"Very well," the Judge said. "Mr. Payne, if you feel you can establish guilt through this, then please prepare your witness. We will have a ten-minute recess. With a slam of the gavel, court was released for ten agonizing minutes.


End file.
